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Playoffs in mind as Rams look ahead

By Jessica Pincente

Feb 02, 2018

TORONTO - With only five games remaining in the regular season, the Ryerson Rams will look to solidify their place as the OUA’s best team heading into the postseason, starting with a weekend matchup against the Windsor Lancers on Saturday.

The team’s most recent game featured a matchup against the Queen’s Gaels where the Rams took a 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22) victory. It was a difficult game for both Ryerson and Queen’s, and the Rams learned a few important lessons in the process.

“As a team, being on the same page - every point, every rally - is important,” said senior libero Julie Longman (Newmarket, Ont.). “I think there are times that some of us are doing one thing and some of us are doing the other, and that’s not a good thing.”

Ryerson will face the Windsor Lancers at 6:00 pm on Saturday evening on the Coca-Cola Court. The Lancers, currently sitting third in the OUA West, have a 6-8 record on the season. Their defensive skills seem to vary, with the team sitting fourth in the league in digs per set (15.07 d/s) but eleventh in blocks per set (1.53 b/s). Windsor is coming off two significant victories against teams in the East, taking a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23) sweep against the Nipissing Lakers and a 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 25-15, 25-21) win against the York Lions.

With the possibility of another win this weekend, the Rams will head into their 15th straight game with the prospect of remaining undefeated. Head coach Dustin Reid said the team will start preparations for the playoffs in the final games of the regular season, beginning with the matchup against Windsor this weekend.

“It’s the first time in a long time we have one match over the weekend,” noted Reid. “We need to take some time to recover and then we need to start planning - not just how we want to play against Windsor, but what we need to do towards the end of the season to play at our best level come playoffs.”

To watch this weekend’s match, tune into OUA.tv at first serve or follow along with us on Twitter, @RyersonRams, using the hashtag #weRrams.